The exchange comes after Trump toured areas scorched by the blazes on Friday and signed an executive order that tasked federal officials with delivering more water and other resources to Southern California, even if it means "overriding" state and local officials. The executive order – Trump's second related to California's water system since taking office – tasks the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation, a national agency, to deliver more water through the Central Valley Project, a network of dams, canals and other infrastructure. In a section titled "Overriding Disastrous California Policies," the order calls on the interior and commerce secretaries to "to override existing activities that unduly burden efforts to maximize water deliveries." The order also directed the White House to see whether it could attach conditions on federal aid to California to ensure cooperation.

California on Tuesday denied President Donald Trump's claim that the U.S. military entered the state to release more water in the wake of deadly wildfires. In a Truth Social post late on Monday, Trump wrote: "The United States Military just entered the Great State of California and, under Emergency Powers, TURNED ON THE WATER flowing abundantly from the Pacific Northwest, and beyond." California's Department of Water Resources responded hours later. "The military did not enter California. The federal government restarted federal water pumps after they were offline for maintenance for three days. State water supplies in Southern California remain plentiful," the agency said early on Tuesday in an X post. Trump, a Republican who visited California on Friday just days after taking office, has repeatedly made false claims that Democratic Governor Gavin Newsom and other state officials refused to provide water from northern areas to fight the fires.

State Senate Pro Tem Mike McGuire, a Democrat, also pushed back against Trump's post. "First off, shocker, water from the Pacific Northwest doesn’t flow to the Central Valley," McGuire said on X. "Second, federal water pumps were down for repair and are now back on. Third, rest assured, the military has not invaded the delta. Facts are hard." This comes after Trump issued an executive order directing several federal agencies, including the Department of Defense and Department of Homeland Security, to determine how to deliver more water to Southern California and the Central Valley, as the state responds to wildfires that swept through the Los Angeles area this month. Trump had said on Friday that two conditions must be met in California before the federal government offers disaster relief. He said he wants lawmakers to approve voter identification legislation and that water deliveries need to be increased from Northern California to drier areas further south.